Colorado women's group forms to advocate marijuana legalization

Just in time for Mother's Day, a group of women is urging mothers to join their fight...to fully legalize marijuana.

The national Women's Marijuana Movement launched in Denver Thursday with a press conference at the Colorado State Capitol. Members say that -regardless of whether you use pot or not- the fight against it is tearing families apart and wasting government resources.

The group is already generating significant national attention partly because of the Mother's Day message, and Colorado's role in the national marijuana debate.

Several members said they do not smoke pot but have taken up the cause to stop -what they call- the "insanity" of putting people in jail because of it.

"We're here to say enough is enough," said attorney Jessica Corry, a self-described conservative Republican who has been active in defending marijuana users and business owners.

"It is absolutely time to stop destroying families...to stop putting people in federal penitentiaries," said Belinda Nelson, who used to be a national conservative spokeswoman against pot and other drug use. "It is time to heal families, not destroy them."

"Alcohol, binge drinking, things like that on our campuses are killing kids every single day," said mother Lori Crookston, who was surrounded by her three kids, aged 15, 11 and 9. "I feel like if there was an alternative, a legal alternative for our kids on campus, they would choose it."

"I just think that if students were given the option of using marijuana instead of alcohol that hopefully a lot of the violence on campuses would go down," said third year University of Denver student Sara Groton.

Although there are still health and impairment issues with pot, members of the group say women now support marijuana legalization at the same level as men, but for very different reasons.

"As a mother of two, I know this that marijuana prohibition will cause far greater harm to my family and to the future of my children than any consumption of marijuana ever could," said Corry.

"If a person is arrested or ticketed for marijuana they can lose their children to social services, they can lose all of their financial aid," said substance abuse counselor Joni Handren.

The group says it is time to stop wasting government money fighting marijuana.

"The key to this movement is, of course, the legislative side," said Crystal Guess, an educator who runs a trade school. "It's getting mothers and daughters...talking about the medicinal aspects of (marijuana). But more importantly, it begins at home."

"My son started using marijuana and I promptly put him in rehab where he learned to do heroin," said Benita Nelson, the former anti-pot crusader.

The group is associated with SAFER, the national marijuana organization that promotes pot as a safer alternative to alcohol, prescription drugs and other substances.

Some recent national polls show that more than half of women still do not favor the legalization of marijuana.